Making shirts



0. P. WINGHESTER. METHOD 0F GUTTINGAND HTTING SHIRTS.

Patented Feb, 1, 1848.

y UNITED STATES OFFICE.

O. F. VINGHESTER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

MAKING SHIRTS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 5,421, dated February 1, 1848.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, O. F. IVINCHESTER, of thecity of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented new and usefulImprovements in the Method of Cutting and Fitting Shirts, and that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle orcharacter which distinguishes them fro-m all other things before knownand of the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, in which- No. 1 shows a general outline of the neck andshoulders of a man and the different modes practiced in fitting a shirt;No. 2 is a representation of the French yoke; N o. 3 is the improvedyoke.

The methods of cutting shirts heretofore and at present practiced isaccompanied with a disadvantage which all have more or less experienced,viz: that of pulling on the neck band. Attempts to remedy this evil havebeen made; by one plan a gusset is let in on the shoulder and next tothe neck band, the shirt then forming a straight line from the gusset tothe tip of the shoulder, the effect of which is to hang the whole weightof the shirt aided by the tension of the suspender, to the neck band. Byanother method, called the French yoke, the seam is made diagonal fromthe tip of the shoulder to the neck band which only remedies the evil inpart, but this does not give the proper support,` for the shoulder beinga hollow curve, when the suspender is applied it bears o-n thehollowpartl of the shoulder and of necessity pulls down the shirt and draws onthe neck band.

The object of my invention is to remedy this evil, and this I effect bymaking a curved seam on the top of and corresponding with the curve ofthat part of the shoulder which extends from the arm to the neck so thatthe shirt shall be supported on the shoulder and thereby avoid a pull onthe neck band. The bosom is also curved out on each side which aids theeffect produced by so cutting the shirt and also serves to make it fitbetter.

The ordinary mode of cutting shirts is shown in the diagram No. 1 by reddotted lines (a, a) in this method it will be seen there is no attemptmade to fit the form, but the whole of the upper part of the shirt issuspended by the collar which is buttoned around the small part of t-heneck tight enough for that purpose; this produces a very unpleasantsensation and the shirt bosom is always out of place on account of thegreat quantity of loose cloth upon the shoulder which allows it to dragdown.

The French yoke is shown in N o. l by the black dotted lines b) and itis likewise represented in No. 2. This plan it will be perceived onlypartially removes the difficulty-it approaches somewhat nearer the formbut still the two points of support are the tight collar around thesmall part of the neck and the point of the shoulder (o) at the end ofthe yoke the intermediate space is above the shoulder and when thesuspender is brought over it is obvious a drag is produced upon thecollar downward producing a similar sensation to the other.

To obviate all these objections I cut the neck of the shirt or the yokewhich I prefer to use with a curve on the shoulder making a seam on thecenter of the shoulder as is shown in diagram No. '3, and by the blacklines No. 1, (d) by which it will be seen that I cut the parts so as tobring all the pressure upon the shoulder at the points (e) easing it offa little toward the collar, so as not to choke, but still fitting theneck sutliciently well. By this mode I suspend the shirt upc-n theshoulders and preserve a perfect tit around the neck and upper part ofthe bosom; to fit more perfectly I cut away the bosom on each side whereit joins the yoke in the curved line (f, this draws back the edges ofthe bosom and fits it to the body.

`What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-Constructing the neck of a shirt or yoke in the manner described byhaving a curved seam on the top of the shoulder, substantially in themanner and for the purpose set forth. y

O. F. WINCHESTER.

Vitnesses:

J. W. TI-IAYER, A. P. BRowNE.

